Self-publishing, which is what e-book publishing and print-on-demand publishing fall under, is one of the oldest forms of publishing, and one of the simplest, though, until recently, generally not profitable, though, as time goes on, I expect it to become more profitable. It’s simply having a third-party publish your book for you.

It used to be that you paid for all copies yourself, because you would be the only one the publisher could sell to. This is changing due to the advent of the internet, as you can write a book and submit it to them. Without any approval process, they’ll generally accept it and, depending on the type of publisher and what the buyer requests, they’ll either create a physical copy for anyone that wants it, of send them a digital copy. More on both types in future posts. Also, before you submit to any independent publisher, and I can’t stress this enough, Do your research. There are publishers who will simply milk you for money. These are the vanity publishers. I’ll go in-depth on them tomorrow.